This Food Tastes Funny

Deserts are not something I indulge in very often so I am going to put my favourites on here . Some are from my childhood when it was all about getting as sticky as possible then chasing your siblings around because your on such a sugar high..

The other deserts you'll find here are more geared to the "grown up" in us all... I'm getting older afterall, I'm pretty sure that I'm getting bitter too, I figure I need all the "sweetness" I can get my hands on ;)




Mini Cheesecakes

INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon margarine, melted

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 6 cup muffin pan.
In a medium bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and margarine with a fork until combined. Measure a rounded tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each muffin cup, pressing firmly. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 5 minutes, then remove to cool. Keep the oven on.
Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla until fluffy. Mix in the egg.
Pour the cream cheese mixture into the muffin cups, filling each until 3/4 full. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 25 minutes. Cool completely in pan before removing. Refrigerate until ready to serve.



Wonderful Streusbury Cake

INGREDIENTS
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup softened butter
3 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

DIRECTIONS
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan.
Whisk together the flour and baking powder in a bowl; set aside. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add the eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Beat in the vanilla with the last egg. Pour in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing until just incorporated. Pour the batter into prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool completely before removing from the pan.



Baklava

INGREDIENTS
1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
1 pound chopped nuts
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup honey

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.
Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.
Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.



Irish Cream Bundt Cake

INGREDIENTS
1 cup chopped pecans
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup Irish cream liqueur
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over bottom of pan.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in eggs, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup oil and 3/4 cup Irish cream liqueur. Beat for 5 minutes at high speed. Pour batter over nuts in pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto the serving dish. Prick top and sides of cake. Spoon glaze over top and brush onto sides of cake. Allow to absorb glaze repeat until all glaze is used up.
To make the glaze: In a saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup Irish cream.



Mango Sorbet

INGREDIENTS
4 mangos - peeled, seeded, and cubed
1 cup simple syrup
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

DIRECTIONS
Place cubed mango in a food processor, and puree. Pour in simple syrup and lime juice, and puree until smooth.
Place in an ice cream maker. Freeze thoroughly.